Yet, many agents are still stuck in what I call the "classified rut." That is, they act as if they are still paying by the word when advertising a home.
I'm always amazed when I go on realter sites to find that agents are paying for premium listings and they use the space so badly. They put up multiple photos, but they don't use the text space to sell the property in words. In short, they haven't developed a real estate marketing system for the web.
So, what is a good example of a real estate marketing system for the web? You need to understand that you have virtually unlimited words to use. Tell a story. Make people feel that the house is already theirs.
You see, a picture is not always worth a thousand words. There is part of the sale that only words can make. For instance, the fact that a home is in the high school boundaries of the school that has won the state football championship in 7 of the last 10 years can not be conveyed in a photo. But, it's a selling point!
Most real estate agents' websites are similarly devoid of stories. Sure, there are lots of photos. But can people see themselves living in those empty rooms without a description of the life they will live there?
Where will their kids go to school (and is the school any good?) Where will they worship? How will they play? Who will their neighbors be?
Tell the story of the house - the story of their future lives. Use those great pictures to support the story, but don't expect them to tell the story themselves.
In order to pull this off, you've got to step outside of your classified writer mode and become more descriptive. If you are not a writer, you can always hire one. Use craigslist for your community to find a writer who will write descriptions of your properties for $25. If you promise her regular work, this should not be too difficult to find.
Real estate marketing has entered a new era and it takes a new kind of agent to fully take advantage of the resources of the web. Start to think differently about your real estate marketing strategies and it will pay a big bonus in this internet era. Develop your own real estate marketing system for the web and see how far it takes you.
